


Just You and Me Until the End

by Ango_Isqua



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Suicidal Thoughts, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25507312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ango_Isqua/pseuds/Ango_Isqua
Summary: Nile talks some sense into Andy, Joe, and Nicky, and they make a more compassionate decision about Booker.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache & Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Joe | Yusuf al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Nile Freeman, Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Nile Freeman
Comments: 15
Kudos: 176





	Just You and Me Until the End

**Author's Note:**

> I really liked this movie, but the end frustrated me, so I fixed it.

The four of them sit in the tavern overlooking the water. Booker is standing outside on the porch, staring at the softly lapping waves. Andy recounts the whole story of what happened, and why. Nile mostly stays out of the conversation that follows. They are all so much older than her, and are closer to each other than she can quite understand. So she lets them talk about all the options for punishment; everything from an apology, to them killing him in a hundred painful ways. Eventually Nile joins Booker on the porch, and they talk, about him, and about her, but soon Andy calls her back inside. 

“We’ve come to a decision.” Nile nods, and gestures for the woman to continue. “We are going to banish him for a hundred years, away from us.” Nile stares at the woman in disbelief.

“Are you out of your mind!” The other three at the table jump a little bit. They don’t seem to be understanding the problem with their decision. “Why did Booker turn you all in in the first place?” Nile did not wait for a reply before continuing, “It was because he wanted a way to die, a way to end the constant cycle. For you Andy, but also for himself. He is fucking suicidal, and he told you why. Because he was alone for so long. Because his family left him, and they hated him, and he was alone. You guys, you also left him alone, when you all split up, and he wanted to die.” She is getting worked up at this point, but doesn’t slow down for breath. “So you guys were going to look at this man, and you were going to leave him alone? He doesn't need punishment, he needs help. He needs to know you love him and care for him, and that he is  _ not _ alone. Put him on dish duty or something, for the next hundred years, but do not abandon him as everyone else in his life has. If you go through with your decision you are continuing a cycle of trauma that will wreck him.” There she stops, breathing quickly, and stares down the rest of the group. They all look rather chastened, and Nile feels she got her point across. Andy coughs a little, then pushes back her chair and stands from the table. She walks down to the beach where Booker is throwing stones into the water. 

“We’ve come to a decision.” Booker looks up quickly, his eyes anxious. “You are on dish duty for the next hundred years.” She says it with a small smile, and he sighs in relief. 

“I expected worse.”

“We almost gave you worse, but Nile talked some sense into us. Plus, we care for you Booker. You are one of us, one of the family.” She slaps him on the shoulder, and they walk together up the stairs to the tavern. Nile stands at the top of the stairs, and accepts the look of gratitude on Andy’s face. Everything will not go back to normal between them right away, but they are a family once more. 


End file.
